Facial Recognition Technologyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/facial-recognition-technology
en-usMon, 19 Mar 2018 23:00:17 -0400Mon, 19 Mar 2018 23:00:17 -0400The latest news on Facial Recognition Technology from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-uses-facial-recognition-technology-surveillance-2018-222 eerie photos show how China uses facial recognition to track its citizens as they travel, shop — and even use toilet paperhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-uses-facial-recognition-technology-surveillance-2018-2
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:24:55 -0500Tara Francis Chan
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5a7ce815d0307298068b481d-1024/gettyimages-862586854.jpg" alt="GettyImages 862586854" data-mce-source="CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="In this photograph taken on August 9, 2017 a facial recognition camera is seen installed at a intersection to take pictures of people crossing roads or offending traffic rules in Shanghai. From toilet-paper dispensers to fast-food restaurants, travel and crime-fighting, China is taking the lead in rolling out facial-recognition technology."></p><p></p>
<p>There are 170 million surveillance cameras in China. By 2020, the country hopes to have 570 million — that's nearly one camera for every two citizens.</p>
<p>At the same time, China is a building a national database that will recognize any citizen within<a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2115094/china-build-giant-facial-recognition-database-identify-any">three seconds</a>. Though that system probably won't be unveiled for a number of years, facial recognition is widespread in China.</p>
<p>Thanks to a large sample population and lax privacy laws, police and private companies have led the way in developing surveillance technology that is now being used to track travel, shopping, crime, and even toilet paper usage.</p>
<p>Take a look at all the ways people's faces are being used for surveillance — with and without their permission.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-collects-dna-fingerprints-biometrics-from-residents-human-rights-watch-2017-12" >A Chinese province is collecting DNA and iris scans from all its residents</a></strong></p>
<h3>One of the most common facial recognition programs is Face++ which is used to manage entry everywhere from Beijing's train stations to Alibaba's office building.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5a7ce7edd03072e6078b47a0-400-300/one-of-the-most-common-facial-recognition-programs-is-face-which-is-used-to-manage-entry-everywhere-from-beijings-train-stations-to-alibabas-office-building.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><em>Source: <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608598/when-a-face-is-worth-a-billion-dollars/">Technology Review</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Alibaba has also developed its own systems that will soon be used in Shanghai's metro to identify commuters via their face and voice.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5a7ceaf9d03072ff0a8b476c-400-300/alibaba-has-also-developed-its-own-systems-that-will-soon-be-used-in-shanghais-metro-to-identify-commuters-via-their-face-and-voice.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/2123014/shanghai-subway-use-alibaba-voice-and-facial-recognition-systems-ai">South China Morning Post</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Railway police in the central Hanan province already use facial recognition sunglasses that can identify travelers within 100 milliseconds. Since their introduction earlier this year, they've been used to identify a number of criminals.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5a7bca87870f9c36008b45ee-400-300/railway-police-in-the-central-hanan-province-already-use-facial-recognition-sunglasses-that-can-identify-travelers-within-100-milliseconds-since-their-introduction-earlier-this-year-theyve-been-used-to-identify-a-number-of-criminals.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-police-using-facial-recognition-glasses-2018-2">Business Insider</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-uses-facial-recognition-technology-surveillance-2018-2#/#a-number-of-provinces-photograph-jaywalkers-and-after-its-matched-to-a-police-database-post-the-photo-id-number-and-home-address-on-public-screens-offenders-can-spend-20-minutes-helping-a-traffic-officer-or-pay-a-3-fine-to-have-the-image-removed-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/china-police-using-facial-recognition-glasses-2018-2Chinese police are using facial-recognition glasses to scan travelershttp://www.businessinsider.com/china-police-using-facial-recognition-glasses-2018-2
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 21:15:36 -0500Tara Francis Chan
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5a7b8e38870f9c24008b456a-1024/gettyimages-915205050.jpg" alt="GettyImages 915205050" data-mce-source="AFP/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="This photo taken on February 5, 2018 shows a police officer wearing a pair of smartglasses with a facial recognition system at Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou in China's central Henan province." /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Railway police have begun using facial-recognition eyewear to catch criminals.</strong></li>
<li><strong>In tests the glasses identified faces within 100 milliseconds.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Seven people have been arrested for a range of previous crimes, and another 26 were banned from travel.</strong></li>
<li><strong>China has been ramping up its use of facial-recognition technology as it moves toward a nationwide database that can recognize any citizen within three seconds.</strong></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><br />Chinese railway police are using facial-recognition sunglasses to catch suspects at train stations in Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province.</p>
<p>The eyewear, which looks similar to the original Google Glass, was unveiled earlier this year and has already helped identify seven alleged criminals, according to the Communist Party's official newspaper <a href="http://vip.people.com.cn/do/userbuy.jsp?picId=7462122&amp;aId=1115454">People's Daily</a>.</p>
<p>The glasses are linked to a database that can match travelers with criminal suspects. It is unclear how long it takes for a match to be made in the real world, butWu Fei, the CEO of LLVision Technology which developed the glasses, told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-police-go-robocop-with-facial-recognition-glasses-1518004353?mod=rss_Technology">The Wall Street Journal</a> that, during testing, the system could identify faces from a database of 10,000 in 100 milliseconds<strong>.</strong></p>
<p>So far the glasses have identified people suspected of misdeeds ranging from traffic infringements to crimes like human trafficking.</p>
<p>A further 26 people using fake identity documents were also prevented from traveling.</p>
<p>In China, people must use identity documents for train travel. This rule works to prevent people with excessive debt from using&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-tax-blacklist-shames-debtors-2017-12">high-speed trains</a>, and limit the movement of religious minorities who have had <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-china-denying-passports-to-restrict-critics-2015may20-story.html">identity documents confiscated</a>and<a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/07/13/one-passport-two-systems/chinas-restrictions-foreign-travel-tibetans-and-others">can wait years</a> to get a valid passport.</p>
<p>While this is the first time Chinese officials have used glasses to implement facial-recognition, the technology is <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/meghara/the-police-state-of-the-future-is-already-here?utm_term=.isBgRmyQB#.qtk4wMB1p">widely used by police</a>. China is also currently building a system that will recognize any of its 1.3 billion citizens in <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2115094/china-build-giant-facial-recognition-database-identify-any">three seconds</a>.</p>
<p>These programs have been condemned by human-rights groups that say this implementation of the technology infringes on people's right to privacy.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Chinese authorities seem to think they can achieve &lsquo;social stability&rsquo; by placing people under a microscope, but these abusive programs are more likely to deepen hostility towards the government,&rdquo; Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch, previously <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/13/china-minority-region-collects-dna-millions">said</a> about different facial recognition technology being used to monitor religious minorities. &ldquo;Beijing should immediately stop these programs, and destroy all data gathered without full, informed consent.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The glasses are likely here to stay, having arrived just weeks before Chinese New Year when it is expected that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/08/c_136880264.htm">389 million train trips</a> will be taken between Feb 1 and March 12.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-collects-dna-fingerprints-biometrics-from-residents-human-rights-watch-2017-12" >A Chinese province is collecting DNA and iris scans from all its residents</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-police-using-facial-recognition-glasses-2018-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s9-review-best-worst-features-2018-3">The best and worst features of the Samsung Galaxy S9</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-gaydar-facial-recognition-technology-2017-10Stanford researchers built a 'gaydar' for photos — and it reveals something disturbing about facial recognition technologyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-gaydar-facial-recognition-technology-2017-10
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 16:19:00 -0400Hilary Brueck
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/59e4d34f1f848925648b4ed1-2272/facial-recognition.jpg" alt="facial recognition" data-mce-source="Franck Boston on Shutterstock" /></p><p>Facial recognition technology&nbsp;may&nbsp;catch a lot more&nbsp;in a photo&nbsp;than a winning smile or sparkling eyes.</p>
<p>Psychologist Michal Kosinski and his colleague Yilun Wang&nbsp;at the Stanford Graduate School of Business caused a stir&nbsp;last month when they suggested that&nbsp;artificial intelligence could apply a sort of "gaydar" to profile photos on dating websites.</p>
<p>In&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href="https://osf.io/fk3xr/">forthcoming paper</a> in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the two researchers revealed how existing facial recognition software could predict whether or not someone identifies as gay or straight just by studying&nbsp;their face.</p>
<p>Comparing two white men&rsquo;s&nbsp;dating profile pictures&nbsp;side-by-side, an existing computer algorithm could determine with 81% accuracy whether or not a person self-identified as gay or straight. The researchers used&nbsp;an existing facial recognition program called VGG Face to read and code the photos, then entered that data into a&nbsp;logistic regression model and looked for correlations between the photo features and&nbsp;a person's stated sexual orientation.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Kosinski&nbsp;said&nbsp;it's not clear&nbsp;which factors&nbsp;the algorithm pinpointed to make its assessments &mdash; whether it emphasized&nbsp;certain physical features like jaw size, nose length, or facial hair,&nbsp;or&nbsp;external features like clothes or image quality.</p>
<p>But when given a handful of a person&rsquo;s profile photos, the system got even savvier. With&nbsp;five pictures of each&nbsp;person to compare, facial recognition software was about 91% accurate at guessing whether men said they were gay or straight, and 83% accurate&nbsp;when determining whether women said they were straight or lesbian. (The study didn&rsquo;t include&nbsp;those who self-reported as &lsquo;bisexual&rsquo; or&nbsp;daters with other sexual preferences.)</p>
<p>People were furious about the news, which was first reported in <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21728614-machines-read-faces-are-coming-advances-ai-are-used-spot-signs">The Economist</a>.</p>
<p>"Stanford researchers tried to create a &lsquo;gaydar&rsquo; machine,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/science/stanford-sexual-orientation-study.html">The New York Times wrote</a>. The Human Rights Campaign and the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD <a href="https://www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-and-hrc-call-stanford-university-responsible-media-debunk-dangerous-flawed-report">denounced</a> the research, calling it &ldquo;dangerous and flawed.&rdquo; In a joint statement, the two organizations lambasted the researchers, saying&nbsp;their study wasn&rsquo;t peer reviewed (though it was) and&nbsp;suggesting&nbsp;the findings &ldquo;could cause harm to LGBTQ people around the world.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lead study author Kosinski agrees that&nbsp;the study is cause for concern.&nbsp;In fact, he thinks&nbsp;what&rsquo;s been overlooked amidst the controversy is the fact that&nbsp;his discovery is disturbing news for everyone. The human face says a surprising amount about what&rsquo;s under our skin, and computers are getting better at decoding that information.</p>
<p>&ldquo;If these results are correct, what the hell are we going to do about it?&rdquo; Kosinski&nbsp;said to Business Insider, adding, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m willing to take some hate if it can make the world safer.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>AI&nbsp;technology appears to be hyper-capable of learning all sorts of information about a person's most intimate preferences based on visual cues that the human eye doesn't pick up. Those details could include things like hormone levels, genetic traits and disorders,&nbsp;even political leanings &mdash;&nbsp;in addition to stated sexual preferences.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>Kosinski's</span> findings don't have to be bad news, though.</p>
<p>The same facial recognition software that sorted gay&nbsp;and straight people in the study could also be trained to mine photos of faces for signs of&nbsp;depression, for example. Or it could one day help doctors measure&nbsp;a patient's hormone levels to identify and treat diseases faster and more accurately.</p>
<p>What's clear from Kosinski's research is that to&nbsp;a trained computer, photos that are already publicly available on the internet are&nbsp;fair game for&nbsp;anyone to try to interpret&nbsp;with AI. Indeed, such systems could already be in use on images floating across computer screens around the world, without anyone being the wiser.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-is-developing-a-robot-that-identifies-unhappy-shoppers-2017-7" >Walmart is developing a robot that identifies unhappy shoppers</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-gaydar-facial-recognition-technology-2017-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facial-symmetry-does-not-equate-beauty-2017-1">The surprising truth about symmetrical faces and attractiveness — according to science</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/theres-no-hiding-from-facial-recognition-technologycharts-2017-9Biometrics like Face ID are coming to your smartphone whether you like it or nothttp://www.businessinsider.com/theres-no-hiding-from-facial-recognition-technologycharts-2017-9
Mon, 18 Sep 2017 18:19:10 -0400Caroline Cakebread
<p>The iPhone X got a lot of buzz last week for many reasons, but one feature that really grabbed people's attention was Face ID &ndash; the facial recognition software used for unlocking the phone. Many expressed privacy concerns,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/al-franken-apple-letter-how-iphone-x-face-id-feature-works-2017-9"> including the head of the Senate privacy committee</a>, who questioned how Apple would keep users 'faceprints' safe. The idea of your phone knowing what you look like is a little creepy, but we might have to get used to it. A forecast by <a href="http://www.acuity-mi.com/Mobile_Biometrics.php">Acuity Market Intelligence</a> suggests that by 2019 all smartphones will have some type of biometric technology.</p>
<p>As we can see in this chart from<a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/11122/the-future-of-mobile-biometrics/"> Statista</a>, biometrics are predicted to be on 100% of wearables and tablets by 2020, proving that once again Apple is way ahead of the curve. &nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/59c03d3038d20d1f008b7c64-1200/cotd918.png" alt="Chart of the Day 9/18" data-mce-source="Mike Nudelman/Business Insider" /></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-why-americans-binge-watch-tv-shows-chart-2017-9" >Here are all the reasons why Americans say they binge-watch TV shows</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/theres-no-hiding-from-facial-recognition-technologycharts-2017-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-face-id-unlocking-fail-during-big-demo-stage-iphone-x-2017-9">Watch Apple's Face ID unlocking fail during its big demo</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-using-photo-matching-software-to-fight-revenge-porn-2017-4Facebook built an internal database of 'revenge porn' pictures to prevent repeat sharing (FB)http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-using-photo-matching-software-to-fight-revenge-porn-2017-4
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:21:30 -0400David Ingram
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/588f5851475752df038b53ea-2400" alt="Mark Zuckerberg" data-mce-source="Justin Sullivan/Getty Images"></p><p>Facebook is adding tools on Wednesday to make it easier for users to report so-called "revenge porn" and to automatically prevent the images from being shared again once they have been banned, the company said.</p>
<p>"Revenge porn" refers to the sharing of sexually explicit images on the internet, without the consent of the people depicted in the pictures, in order to extort or humiliate them. The practice disproportionately affects women, who are sometimes targeted by former partners.</p>
<p>Facebook has been sued in the United States and elsewhere by people who said it should have done more to prevent the practice. The company in 2015 made clear that images "shared in revenge" were forbidden, and users have long had the ability to report posts as violating the terms of service.</p>
<p>Beginning on Wednesday, users of the world's largest social network should see an option to report a picture as inappropriate specifically because it is a "nude photo of me," Facebook said in a statement.</p>
<p>The company also said it was launching an automated process to prevent the repeat sharing of banned images. Photo-matching software will keep the pictures off the core Facebook network as well as off its Instagram and Messenger services, it said.</p>
<p>Users who share "revenge porn" may see their accounts disabled, the company said.</p>
<p>Facing criticism, the company last year met representatives from more than 150 women's safety organizations and decided it needed to do more, Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Facebook, said in a phone interview.</p>
<p>A specially trained group of Facebook employees will provide human review of each reported image, Davis said.</p>
<p>The process to prevent repeat sharing requires Facebook to retain the banned pictures in a database, although the images are blurred and only a small number of employees have access to the database, the company said.</p>
<p>Prosecutors and lawmakers have also sought ways to prevent the spread of "revenge porn," seeking additional penalties for a practice that they said has ruined careers and families and even led to suicide.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/revenge-porn-study-nearly-10-million-americans-are-victims-2016-12" >Nearly 10 million Americans are victims of revenge porn, study finds</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-using-photo-matching-software-to-fight-revenge-porn-2017-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/we-asked-6-experts-what-the-world-will-look-like-in-50-years-time-mwc-2018-3">In 50 years we'll have 'robot angels' and will be able to merge our brains with AI, according to technology experts</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/someone-who-cant-remember-faces-merriam-webster-2017-2A surprising number of people can't recognize faces — sometimes even their ownhttp://www.businessinsider.com/someone-who-cant-remember-faces-merriam-webster-2017-2
Fri, 10 Feb 2017 10:27:00 -0500Erin Brodwin
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/589dbb873149a101788b4c85-2400/undefined" alt="young woman outside thinking looking at camera" data-mce-source="Unsplash/Alex Lambley" data-link="https://unsplash.com/collections/540080/thinking-feeling-pensive-people?photo=i2AmfpRO0Cc" /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Some people have a condition that makes it difficult for them to recognize familiar faces, even those of friends and family. Sometimes they may even have issues&nbsp;recognizing themselves. This is called prosopagnosia.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Prosopagnosia is estimated to affect about 1% of the population.</strong></li>
<li><strong>It's not necessarily linked to brain damage or any other intellectual problem; the prolific&nbsp;author and neurologist Oliver Sacks was a prosopagnosic.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Merriam-Webster added prosopagnosia to the dictionary earlier this week.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>I've seen a lot of faces that I can't forget.</p>
<p>No, I'm not talking about being in love, as The Beatles lyrics might imply. Instead, I may be a super-recognizer, meaning that other peoples' faces get strangely seared into my brain &mdash; even those of complete strangers. It's not that I necessarily want to remember them &mdash; I just can't seem to help it.</p>
<p>And I'm not alone. Josh P. Davis, a psychology professor at the University of Greenwich in England who studies the phenomenon, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/london-police-super-recognisers-id-faces-surveillance-2016-10">told me</a> he estimates some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/london-police-super-recognisers-id-faces-surveillance-2016-10">1% of the population</a> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/super-recognizer-remember-faces-quiz-2016-8">could qualify</a> as super-recognizers. (Keep in mind, Davis said &mdash; "if you do very well then you <em>may</em> be a super-recognizer" &mdash; if you want to know for sure, you can inquire with his team about additional testing.)</p>
<p>But it turns out that another 1% of the population appears to fall into a category that might be best-described as the <em>opposite</em> of super-recognition.</p>
<p>These face-blind people, or "prosopagnosics," a term that neuroscientists have used to refer to them for several years but was only officially <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prosopagnosia">added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary this month,</a>&nbsp;essentially cannot recognize familiar faces.</p>
<h2>'Prosopagnosia' is essentially face blindness</h2>
<p>The word prosopagnosia, which combines the Greek words "prosopon," or face, with "agnos," or lack of knowledge, dates back to when researchers first identified the "condition" in people with brain damage to a specific area of the brain called the <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/11/4302.full">fusiform face area</a>, or FFA, about 30 years ago. Scientists believe the FFA <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/11/4302.full">is thought to play a key role in our ability to identify a face</a>.</p>
<p>Prosopagnosics, they found, had severe <a href="http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/prosopagnosia/Prosopagnosia.htm">difficulties recognizing familiar faces</a> &mdash; even, sometimes, their own.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57fcc635dd0895c3338b468e-2003/gettyimages-88194627.jpg" alt="Oliver Sacks" data-mce-source="Chris McGrath/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks speaks at Columbia University June 3, 2009 in New York City. Dr. Sacks, who was appointed Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in 2007, is the author of several bestselling books. His 1973 book 'Awakenings' was adapted into the Academy Award-nominated film of the same name starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams and his latest book is 'Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain'." />But you don't have to have experienced brain damage to have prosopagnosia.</p>
<p>More recently, researchers have diagnosed the condition in perfectly healthy people who appear to be born with it. The deficit, called "developmental prosopagnosia," doesn't appear to negatively affect other intellectual efforts in these people.</p>
<p>Oliver Sacks, the renowned neurologist and prolific writer, for example, was a prosopagnosic. He wrote extensively about his condition in the book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Minds-Eye-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0307473023">The Mind's Eye</a>."</p>
<p>"I am much better at recognizing my neighbors' dogs (they have characteristic shapes and colors) than my neighbors themselves," Sacks <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Minds-Eye-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0307473023">wrote</a>.</p>
<h2>'Super-recognition,' on the other hand, is a superior ability to pick out a familiar face</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3904192/">first paper to mention the phrase "super-recognizer</a>," published in 2009, University College London cognitive neuroscientist Brad Duchaine, along with Harvard psychologists Ken Nakayama and Richard Russell, outlined the experiences of four people who claimed to have an unusually good ability to recognize faces. In addition, the researchers presented the world's first test designed to identify these so-called super-recognizers, the Cambridge Face Memory Test, which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/super-recognizer-remember-faces-quiz-2016-8">you can take online now</a>.</p>
<p>All four subjects in the paper described eerie instances in their past in which they had recognized apparent strangers: family members they hadn't seen for decades or actors they'd glimpsed once in an ad and then seen again in a movie. Each person in the study said that for years they'd felt as if something were wrong with them. One of the participants, for example, told the researchers she tried to hide her ability and "pretend that I don't remember ... because it seems like I stalk them, or that they mean more to me than they do."</p>
<p>For the first time, the Cambridge test suggested to these people that they weren't alone &mdash; that their abilities weren't merely in their head but quantifiable, testable, able to be proved and put down on paper.</p>
<h2>What we know &mdash; and don't know &mdash; about facial recognition</h2>
<p>Research suggests that facial super-recognition is fundamentally different from traditional memory in several key ways. First, the ability doesn't appear to be able to be learned or enhanced with training. Second, it appears to have a neurological and structural basis.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/57fcc635dd0895c3338b4690-475/face_recognition.jpg" alt="Face_recognition" data-mce-source="Wikimedia Commons" data-link="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Face_recognition.jpg" />But there's still a lot we don't know about super-recognition &mdash; and about facial recognition more broadly.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150972">a recent study in the journal PLoS One</a>, for example, researchers studied two so-called memory champions, people who had competed extensively in memory contests and had even been recognized by the Guinness World Book of Records for their memorization skills. When the researchers studied these people's facial-recognition abilities, however, their results were merely average. In other words, the researchers concluded, something about facial processing was fundamentally different from memory &mdash; and it couldn't be learned by any training or class. Instead, it seemed to be innate.</p>
<p>And if people are born with their facial-recognition abilities, then they <a href="http://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2138695">most likely have a neurological basis in the brain</a>, researchers say. A super-recognizer, for example, might have a slightly larger fusiform face area than a face-blind person, or the person might show more activity in this area when looking at images of a face. "Any time there's a psychological difference there has to be a neurological basis," said Duchaine, the University College London cognitive neuroscientist. "Just like you'd say, OK, that car is faster than that other car. Is there a difference in their engines? Well yes of course there is."</p>
<p>Still, Duchaine and other researchers lack the data to confirm this. All of the existing studies of super-recognizers are based on very small samples of people &mdash; anywhere from <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4805230/">just two individuals</a> to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3858904/">a half-dozen people</a>. Several of the researchers have presented their hypotheses about super-recognizers at conferences and presentations, but many of these haven't yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.</p>
<p>So what exactly <em>are</em> prosopagnosia and super-recognition? Skills? Signs of intelligence? Quirky developmental traits?</p>
<p>That's something that remains to be seen.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/london-police-super-recognisers-id-faces-surveillance-2016-10" >Meet the 'super-recognizers,' an elite squad of police officers who are paid to never, ever forget a face</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/super-recognizer-remember-faces-quiz-2016-8" >There's a test that tells you if you're a 'super-recognizer' of faces, and you can take it right now</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/someone-who-cant-remember-faces-merriam-webster-2017-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/neuroscientists-brain-pushing-athletes-limit-red-bull-endurance-project-red-bull-2015-8">Neuroscientists are trying to understand how the brains of elite athletes work </a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ebays-store-shows-how-the-brain-works-while-youre-christmas-shopping-2016-11The world's first emotionally-powered store from Ebay showed us how the brain works while Christmas shoppinghttp://www.businessinsider.com/ebays-store-shows-how-the-brain-works-while-youre-christmas-shopping-2016-11
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 10:51:00 -0500Edith Hancock
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/583da42add08950f1a8b4574-1200/expebay087.jpg" alt="exp_ebay_087" data-mce-source="Ebay" /></p><p>If the footage of<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/shoppers-completely-trashed-a-nike-store-in-seattle-on-black-friday-2016-11"> this year's Black Friday chaos</a> is anything to go by, shopping for gifts might be the most stressful thing about Christmas. Now, we have scientific evidence to support this.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/">Ebay</a> has teamed up with US tech firm <a href="http://www.lightwave.company/">Lightwave</a> to create the world's first "emotionally-powered store" in London, which uses facial coding technology to decide the Christmas presents you should buy for your loved ones.</p>
<p>According to Ebay, which used the same technology to study how the brain works while we shop for gifts, it can take just half an hour of online browsing to lose motivation.</p>
<p>To resolve this issue, the store &mdash; which launched on Tuesday&nbsp;29&nbsp;November and will run for two days &mdash; contains interactive screens which show customers range of gift ideas in a short space of time, at the same time measuring facial expressions and how long individuals spend looking at each gift to measure their emotional response.</p>
<p>Here's how it works.</p><h3>Ebay has installed cubicles with interactive screens in its new Oxford Circus store. Customers can use these "biometric pods" to find out which gifts will be the most emotionally satisfying to give.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/583da42add08950f1a8b4577-400-300/ebay-has-installed-cubicles-with-interactive-screens-in-its-new-oxford-circus-store-customers-can-use-these-biometric-pods-to-find-out-which-gifts-will-be-the-most-emotionally-satisfying-to-give.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>To use the service, customers should "go in with an open mind, and concentrate on the person they're shopping for," Ebay's Senior Retail Director Rhian Bartlett told Business Insider. I thought about my mum and dad, who tend to buy themselves the things they need, so aren't the easiest people to buy gifts for.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/583da42add08950f1a8b4578-400-300/to-use-the-service-customers-should-go-in-with-an-open-mind-and-concentrate-on-the-person-theyre-shopping-for-ebays-senior-retail-director-rhian-bartlett-told-business-insider-i-thought-about-my-mum-and-dad-who-tend-to-buy-themselves-the-things-they-need-so-arent-the-easiest-people-to-buy-gifts-for.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Once you've signed in with your name, age, and email address, a series of 12 gift ideas are presented, while cameras inside the booth monitor your facial expressions. The whole process takes around five minutes.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/583da42add08950f1a8b4579-400-300/once-youve-signed-in-with-your-name-age-and-email-address-a-series-of-12-gift-ideas-are-presented-while-cameras-inside-the-booth-monitor-your-facial-expressions-the-whole-process-takes-around-five-minutes.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ebays-store-shows-how-the-brain-works-while-youre-christmas-shopping-2016-11#/#you-then-have-the-option-to-look-through-the-items-again-at-this-point-the-cameras-are-reading-how-long-you-spend-on-each-page-as-well-as-how-you-react-to-a-specific-gift-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/police-using-facial-recognition-databases-with-almost-no-oversight-2016-10Half of American adults appear in facial recognition databases — and police are using them with almost no oversighthttp://www.businessinsider.com/police-using-facial-recognition-databases-with-almost-no-oversight-2016-10
Tue, 18 Oct 2016 20:41:00 -0400Michelle Mark
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/58068e7cc52402c9008b53e0-2400/ap081217026889.jpg" alt="face recognition technology police" data-mce-source="The News Tribune/Russ Carmack via Associated Press" data-mce-caption="MorphoFace, a computer facial recognition software sorted through 16 years of prisoner mugs to see if any matched a photo taken from an indoor automatic teller machine." /></p><p>A <a href="https://www.aclu.org/letter/coalition-letter-department-justice-civil-rights-division-calling-investigation-disparate">coalition of civil liberties groups</a> are calling for a Department of Justice investigation into&nbsp;<span>police facial recognition databases</span>, after a damning report released Tuesday found that roughly half of American adults appear in the unregulated databases.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, along with 51 other advocacy groups, wrote a letter decrying the technology &mdash; which is being used by a growing number of law enforcement agencies across the country &mdash; for its lack of oversight and potential to disproportionately affect communities of color.</p>
<p>So far, no state has passed a comprehensive law regulating police departments' use of the technology, according to the <a href="https://www.perpetuallineup.org">report by the Center on Privacy and Technology</a> at Georgetown University's law school.</p>
<p>The report also noted that police departments' use of the technology poses privacy and free speech concerns &mdash; especially when photos are taken surreptitiously or via public surveillance at protests or demonstrations.</p>
<p>"Face recognition technology has enormous civil liberties implications and its use must be closely examined to ensure that it is not violating Americans' civil rights," the ACLU's letter said.&nbsp;"The safeguards to ensure this technology is being used fairly and responsibly appear to be virtually nonexistent."</p>
<h2>Technological bias</h2>
<p>Although some police departments tout their technology as being free of racial bias, African Americans are particularly vulnerable to racial profiling as a result of the technology.</p>
<p>Previous studies have found that facial recognition algorithms tend to be less accurate on African Americans than Caucasians, and the report noted that African Americans are typically overrepresented in mugshot databases anyway.</p>
<p>"If the suspect is African American rather than Caucasian, the system is more likely to erroneously fail to identify the right person, potentially causing innocent people to be bumped up the list &mdash; and possibly even investigated," the report said.</p>
<p>The lack of both internal and external input on police departments' use of the technology also stood out; of the 52 local and state law enforcement agencies evaluated, just one of them had been reviewed and approved by elected officials, and just four had created use policies that are available to the public.</p>
<p>"With little to guide them, most &mdash; though not all &mdash; police departments have not taken adequate steps to rein in this surveillance technology," the report argued.</p>
<p>"Face recognition can and should be used to respond to serious crimes and public emergencies. It should not be used to scan the face of any person, at any time, for any crime."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/crime-predictive-policing-chicago-police-2016-9" >An experimental policing tool is gaining traction across the country — and there are major civil-liberties concerns</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/police-using-facial-recognition-databases-with-almost-no-oversight-2016-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-will-arming-teachers-guns-help-stop-school-shootings-2018-2">Henry Blodget: Will arming teachers with guns help stop school shootings?</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/hsbc-implements-selfie-security-verification-technology-for-banking-2016-9HSBC is letting customers verify their bank accounts like Airbnb does with selfieshttp://www.businessinsider.com/hsbc-implements-selfie-security-verification-technology-for-banking-2016-9
Sun, 04 Sep 2016 19:01:00 -0400Lianna Brinded
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57cca7afdd08956d4f8b4b93-2400/selfies-kim-kardashian-artificial-intelligence-robots-shutterstock-getty.jpg" alt="selfies kim kardashian artificial intelligence robots shutterstock getty" data-mce-source="Getty Images/Shutterstock/Tech Insider" /></p><p>HSBC is now allowing business customers to verify their identities when they open an account by taking a selfie &mdash; much like how you would open an account with <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/airbnb-raises-850-million-at-30-billion-valuation-2016-8">popular home-sharing company Airbnb.</a></p>
<p>In a statement sent to Business Insider, HSBC said that business customers will now have the option on their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-fintech-is-here-to-stay-with-banking-and-payment-services-2016-12">mobile banking</a>&nbsp;app to complete an ID security check when opening an account by just taking a headshot on their phone instead of putting in a password or using other biometric methods, such as using a fingerprint.</p>
<p>It says using the facial tracking technology will "streamline the account opening experience" as the selfie taken will be assessed against an ID document that was previously uploaded by the customer, such as one from a passport. This is the same process you go through when verifying an account with Airbnb.</p>
<p>Over the last few years, banks have been ramping up efforts to implement biometrics into the security process, in order to keep people's accounts safer from hacking or ID fraud.</p>
<p>Last week, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-biometrics-cloud-computing-blockchain-ai-finance-2016-8">"Future of Financial Infrastructure" report</a> that biometric technology is one of the key things that is set to transform financial services over the next few decades.</p>
<p>Earlier this year at the WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/kpmg-cyber-security-malcolm-marshalls-robotics-ai-davos-wef-2016-1">one of the world's most prominent cyber security experts told Business Insider</a> that a big improvement to our security is potentially doing away with passwords altogether and using more biometrics &mdash; such as voice recognition and fingerprints.</p>
<p>"It's time we found ways to get rid of the password. They are no longer viable and considering the extent of how much we live our lives online, we need to find ways to make ourselves more secure. After all, think of how many passwords we use and how hard it is to remember them all. Even I have had to constantly reset my passwords because I keep forgetting them," said Malcolm Marshall, Global Head of Cyber Security practice at "Big Four" accountant and consultancy KPMG International.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hsbc-implements-selfie-security-verification-technology-for-banking-2016-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-jim-chanos-is-tired-of-hearing-in-this-bull-market-2018-2">Here's what Jim Chanos is tired of hearing about from Wall Street and Silicon Valley</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-dmvs-facial-recognition-enhancements-more-than-100-arrests-2016-8New York DMV’s facial recognition enhancements have led to more than 100 arrests since Januaryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-dmvs-facial-recognition-enhancements-more-than-100-arrests-2016-8
Mon, 29 Aug 2016 22:32:00 -0400Harrison Kaminsky
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/57c4908f09d29323008b5071-644/nylicense.jpg" alt="nylicense" data-mce-source="New York State Department of Motor Vehicles" data-mce-caption="Governor Cuomo announces more than 100 arrests since major enhancement to DMV's facial recognition technology." data-link="http://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-more-100-arrests-major-enhancement-dmvs-facial-recognition-technology" /></p><p>After New York State made enhancements to how its DMV combats identity theft and fraud in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that the changes have since led to more than 100 arrests and 900 open cases.</p>
<p>The effectiveness is due to facial recognition technology to remove high-risk drivers from the road.</p>
<p>It &ldquo;doubles the number of measurement points mapped to each digitized driver photograph to vastly improve the system&rsquo;s ability to match a photograph to one that already exists in DMV&rsquo;s database,&rdquo; a release from Cuomo&rsquo;s office said.</p>
<p>Cuomo said that facial recognition plays a critical role in keeping New York&rsquo;s communities safer by cracking down on individuals who break the law.</p>
<p>&ldquo;New York is the leading nation with the technology, and the results from our use of this enhanced technology are proof positive that its use is vital in making our roads safer and holding fraudsters accountable,&rdquo; he stated.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/57c49191b996eb98008b50d7-2400/gettyimages-72326316.jpg" alt="A man uses an iris recognition scanner during the Biometrics 2004 exhibition and conference October 14, 2004 in London." data-mce-source="Ian Waldie/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="A man uses an iris recognition scanner during the Biometrics 2004 exhibition and conference October 14, 2004 in London." data-link="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/72326316" /></p>
<p>New York State&rsquo;s DMV first implemented the technology in 2010, and according to the release, more than 3,800 individuals have been arrested for possessing multiple licenses. Additionally, &ldquo;more than 10,800 facial recognition cases have been solved administratively, without the need for an arrest.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The release provided a breakdown of the 102 arrests that have occurred since the January enhancements. While New York City led the state with 40 arrests, Capital Region followed with 26, Long Island with 17, Mid-Hudson with 13, and Western New York with three. Finger Lakes also had three, Southern Tier had two, and Central New York rounded the number out with one arrest.</p>
<p>In addition to the enhanced system doubling the number of measurement points on the face from 64 to 128 on licenses, the system also allows for the &ldquo;ability to overlay images, invert colors, and convert images to black and white to better see scars and identifying features on the face.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/57c491c4b996eb580f8b5044-2400/gettyimages-51478183.jpg" alt="A 3D facial recognition program is demonstrated during the Biometrics 2004 exhibition and conference October 14, 2004 in London." data-mce-source="Ian Waldie/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="A 3D facial recognition program is demonstrated during the Biometrics 2004 exhibition and conference October 14, 2004 in London." data-link="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/72326316" /></p>
<p>While most would assume a change in hair style, glasses, or aging might affect the system&rsquo;s performance, the release said the facial recognition technology has advanced past that setback.</p>
<p>New York State DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner Terri Egan said that the state&rsquo;s DMV is now a leader in using the technology, and is encouraged by its success in just over half a year.</p>
<p>&ldquo;DMV&rsquo;s facial recognition technology prevents fraud by those who attempt to manipulate the system, including everyday motorists as well as commercial and for-hire drivers who transport goods and people throughout the state,&rdquo; Egan said.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-dmvs-facial-recognition-enhancements-more-than-100-arrests-2016-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meaning-of-fake-news-and-make-america-great-again-steven-pinker-2018-3">Harvard professor Steven Pinker explains the disturbing truth behind Trump's 2 favorite phrases</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-deactivate-photo-auto-tagging-in-facebook-2016-5How to stop Facebook from auto-tagging you in photos (FB)http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-deactivate-photo-auto-tagging-in-facebook-2016-5
Fri, 06 May 2016 17:33:36 -0400Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/572d032152bcd01a008c1715-896-672/friends-selfie-fun.jpg" alt="friends selfie fun" data-mce-source="Martin Hunter / Stringer / Getty Image" /></p><p>Facebook is in hot water in Illinois&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-facebook-loses-first-round-in-suit-over-storing-biometric-data-2016-5">after a judge ruled that a group of users has the right to file a complaint against the social network</a>&nbsp;centering on&nbsp;its practice of storing biometric data about their faces.</p>
<p>The issue targets Facebook's "tag suggestions," which help people automatically tag their friends in photos based on data the site has stored to recognize their faces.</p>
<p>I saw the feature at work firsthand when I recently&nbsp;uploaded nearly 200 photos to an album and Facebook accurately tagged the people in almost every one.</p>
<p>I had the option to ignore the tag suggestions, but that would have involved going through all of the photos.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs in Illinois say that the tool violates user privacy, since Facebook compiles the biometric data without their explicit consent.</p>
<p>But&nbsp;it is possible to opt out of the suggested tagging.</p>
<p>Here's how:</p>
<h2>First, navigate to settings and then click the 'Timeline and Tagging' category:</h2>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/572d0b0852bcd01a008c174d-1222-539/tagging2.png" alt="Facebook" data-mce-source="Facebook" /></p>
<h2>Then scroll down to the category about tag suggestions:</h2>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/572d089652bcd023008c177a-1232-469/facebook.png" alt="Facebook" data-mce-source="Facebook" /></p>
<h2>Switch from 'Friends' to 'No One':</h2>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/572d08ee52bcd01d7b8c1527-732-470/facebookagain.png" alt="Facebookagain" data-mce-source="Facebook" /></p>
<h2>According to Facebook's Help Center, here's how it recognizes you:</h2>
<ul class="uiList _341 _3p7 _4of _4kg">
<li>
<div class="fcb"><strong>Information about photos you're tagged in.</strong>&nbsp;When you're tagged in a photo, or make a photo your profile picture, we associate the tags with your account, compare what these photos have in common and store a summary of this comparison. If you've never been tagged in a photo on Facebook or have untagged yourself in all photos of you on Facebook, then we do not have this summary information for you.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="fcb"><strong>Comparing your new photos to stored info about photos you're tagged in.</strong>&nbsp;We are able to suggest that your friend tag you in a photo by scanning and comparing your friend's photos to information we've put together from your profile pictures and the other photos in which you've been tagged.</div>
</li>
</ul><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-trending-stories-report-2016-5" >Here's how Facebook decides what 'trending' news you see</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-deactivate-photo-auto-tagging-in-facebook-2016-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-find-secret-facebook-messages-2016-4">I found 9 years' worth of messages hidden in my secret Facebook inbox</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-has-a-website-takes-the-face-swapping-craze-to-hilarious-new-levels-its-super-addictive-2016-3Microsoft has an addictive Skype bot that takes the face-swapping craze to hilarious new levels (MSFT)http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-has-a-website-takes-the-face-swapping-craze-to-hilarious-new-levels-its-super-addictive-2016-3
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:48:41 -0400Matt Weinberger
<p>Microsoft introduced <a href="http://www.projectmurphy.net">Project Murphy</a>, a hilarious new Skype-bot&nbsp;to swap and combine faces, at today's Microsoft Build 2016 developer conference. It's the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-buys-popular-msqrd-face-swapping-app-2016-3">face-swapping craze</a>&nbsp;taken to its most hilarious inevitable conclusion.</p>
<p>Project Murphy is billed as "the robot with imagination." With a keyboard or your microphone, you can ask it to imagine the combination of&nbsp;two things, and it'll do its best to answer in the form of a robotically-made composite image, sourced from Bing Image Search.</p>
<p>You can get to Project Murphy via a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-slack-skype-snapchat-sms-chatbots-2017-11">Skype messaging bot</a>, on Windows, iPhone, and Android. Just click here to add him to your Skype buddy list, and send him a message.</p>
<p>Best of all, <a href="http://www.projectmurphy.net">Project Murphy</a> works on real people, with your phone or PC's camera.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Here's its response to "What if I were a superhero," starring me:</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/56fc52c152bcd05c658b9b06-433-562/img_2549.jpg" alt="project murphy superhero" width="433" height="562" data-mce-source="Project Murphy" /></p>
<p>In an attempt to stump Project Murphy, I also asked "What if I were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Stoessel">Martina Stoessel</a>," Disney Channel international star:</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/56fc531852bcd0320c8b9c1c-698-1048/img_2554.jpg" alt="martina stoessel project murphy" width="437" height="656" data-mce-source="Project Murphy" /></p>
<p>Fetching.</p>
<p>It quickly becomes addictive, trying to find new and ever-funnier monstrosities to have Project Murphy create for you. Here's "What if Donald Trump were Hillary Clinton?" And, uh, apologies in advance:</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/56fc525152bcd05c658b9b02-673-1109/img_2555.jpg" alt="hillary clinton donald trump" width="446" height="735" data-mce-source="Project Murphy" /></p>
<p>Or "What if Bill Gates were Steve Jobs?"</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/56fc544f52bcd01f7b8b98d7-944-872/img_2557.jpg" alt="bill gates steve jobs" width="440" height="406" data-mce-source="Project Murphy" /></p>
<p>It can even go a little esoteric with stuff like "What if Donald Trump were on Mount Rushmore?"</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/56fc549c52bcd0320c8b9c1f-933-703/img_2556.jpg" alt="donald trump mount rushmore" width="552" height="416" data-mce-source="Project Murphy" /></p>
<p>Behind the scenes, Microsoft is using its cognitive services for image recognition and language comprehension to provide ever-smarter responses. It's actually a Skype bot under the hood.</p>
<p>In a kind of cool but kind of creepy move, Project Murphy actually uses the look on your face when you see the result to judge if it did a good job or not so it can improve. The mood of the little robot depends on your reaction.</p>
<p>This is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-built-a-site-to-guess-how-old-you-are-2015-4">from the same team that did last year's viral sensation How-Old.net</a>, who were tasked by Satya Nadella himself with making something even cooler for the 2016 conference. Judging from how much fun I had in just twenty minutes of tooling around with Project Murphy, it looks like they've succeeded.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-built-a-site-to-guess-how-old-you-are-2015-4" >Microsoft has a website that guesses your age — it's a lot of fun to play around with</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-has-a-website-takes-the-face-swapping-craze-to-hilarious-new-levels-its-super-addictive-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/artist-transforms-face-with-light-2016-2">An artist created a projector that can completely transform people's faces</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/fingerprint-payment-replace-credit-cards-visa-biometrics-2016-3Visa could replace credit cards by letting you buy things with a wave of your handhttp://www.businessinsider.com/fingerprint-payment-replace-credit-cards-visa-biometrics-2016-3
Tue, 29 Mar 2016 11:45:14 -0400Zach Wasser, Dan Bobkoff and Andrew Stern
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<p class="embed-spacer">Visa Inc. let people try a proof of concept of its fingerprint scanner payment method at South by Southwest in March. Here's how it works. </p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><em>Produced by Zach Wasser. Camera by Dan Bobkoff. Reported by Andrew Stern.</em> </p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><strong>Follow TI: </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/techinsider/?fref=ts">On Facebook</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fingerprint-payment-replace-credit-cards-visa-biometrics-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/robotic-security-guards-patrol-silicon-valley-2016-2These real-life robocops are patrolling the streets of Silicon Valleyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/robotic-security-guards-patrol-silicon-valley-2016-2
Tue, 23 Feb 2016 17:26:00 -0500Gene Kim
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<p><a href="http://knightscope.com/" target="_blank">Knightscope</a>, a security start-up company, is selling a robotic <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/mark-zuckerberg-bodyguards-2016-2">security guard</a> service. K5 is an <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/russia-and-china-are-building-highly-autonomous-killer-robots-2015-12">autonomous robot</a> designed to add security to private facilities and public areas.</p>
<p><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Produced by </em><a href="http://www.techinsider.io/author/gene-kim"><span class="s2"><em>Gene Kim</em></span></a></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Follow TI:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/techinsider"><span class="s2">On Facebook</span></a></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robotic-security-guards-patrol-silicon-valley-2016-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/google-joins-movidius-to-design-smart-chip-2016-1Google is trying to make smartphones that can solve problems on their ownhttp://www.businessinsider.com/google-joins-movidius-to-design-smart-chip-2016-1
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 21:27:06 -0500Jeff Ward-Bailey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/568b4dcdc08a806f008b6c3e-4000-3000/gettyimages-486452556.jpg" alt="people using smartphones" data-mce-source="Sean Gallup/Getty Image" /></p><p>Last October, Google CEO Sundar Pichai <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/1023/Rise-of-the-machines-why-artificial-intelligence-will-power-Google-s-core" target="_self">spoke</a> about what machine learning means for Google.</p>
<p>He called it &ldquo;transformative,&rdquo; and said that Google was &ldquo;rethinking everything we&rsquo;re doing&rdquo; in the context of machine learning.</p>
<p>A subset of artificial intelligence, machine learning is an approach in which &ldquo;<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/1109/How-TensorFlow-which-Google-just-made-free-teaches-computers-to-think-like-humans" target="_self">neural network</a>&rdquo; computers use algorithms to sort through large sets of data, discovering patterns and relationships on their own rather than following predefined rules to solve problems.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Google already uses machine learning to <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/0713/Google-fights-spam-with-artificial-intelligence" target="_self">fight spam</a> in Gmail and to allow its services to better <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2015/11/tensorflow-googles-latest-machine_9.html" target="_self">understand spoken words</a>. And this week the company announced it&rsquo;s working to bring machine learning to the device people spend the most time interacting with: the smartphone.</p>
<p>Google will partner with chip designer Movidius to put neural network technology in mobile devices, the companies <a href="http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/google-movidius-work-together-enhance-deep-learning-capabilities-next-generation-devices-2091671.htm" target="_self">announced</a> in a press release, making progress toward handsets that can understand speech and images the way a person would.</p>
<p>Eventually, the companies say, smartphones will be able to recognize faces and objects, understand speech, and read signs and menus as easily as humans can. Rather than following a predefined set of instructions, phones will be able to make their own decisions about how to solve problems such as identifying a landmark or translating between languages.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Future products can have the ability to understand images and audio with incredible speed and accuracy,&rdquo; Google and Movidius&nbsp;<a href="http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/google-movidius-work-together-enhance-deep-learning-capabilities-next-generation-devices-2091671.htm" target="_self">wrote</a> in the press release.</p>
<p>How would it work? Right now, most machine learning takes place in huge data centers where neural networks chew through large numbers of images, videos, and articles, performing mathematical operations on the data in order to classify and understand them. Given enough files of spoken words, for example, a neural network can learn to understand different accents and inflections.</p>
<p>When a person uses his or her smartphone to, say, translate a sentence from one language to another, the phone uploads the data to a server, where neural networks operate on it and return a result.</p>
<p>But this takes time and relies on a wireless connection that may be shaky. Under the new partnership, Movidius will supply Google with microprocessors that can perform neural network computations locally, allowing smartphones to understand input without having to &ldquo;phone home.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The companies didn&rsquo;t say when this technology might hit the market, or whether future Google smartphones will run on Movidius chips.</p>
<p>But as machine learning software and neural network hardware progresses, handsets will come to have all the tools they need to make sense of the world around them &ndash; and, hopefully, to learn and adapt to users&rsquo; day-to-day needs.<span class="eos_marker" id="end-of-story"></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-joins-movidius-to-design-smart-chip-2016-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robohon-japanese-smartphone-tech-projector-robot-humanoid-2015-10">This new robot smartphone dances, responds to voice commands, and has a built-in projector</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-messenger-testing-facial-recognition-technology-2015-11Facebook is now scanning your camera's photos to make sure you send them to your friends (FB)http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-messenger-testing-facial-recognition-technology-2015-11
Mon, 09 Nov 2015 17:23:21 -0500Biz Carson
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/56411446bd86ef1c008c88ea-383-681/photo magic 2.png" alt="Photo Magic 2" data-mce-source="Facebook" /></p><p>In a bit of "Photo Magic," Facebook is testing a new&nbsp;feature to make it easier to share your photos with friends &mdash; before you even upload them to the social network.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Using facial recognition, Facebook Messenger will look through your newly taken photos in your phone's camera roll to identify your friends in them.</p>
<p>If&nbsp;Photo Magic recognizes one of your friends, Messenger will immediately send you a notification&nbsp;to send&nbsp;it to the person in the photo, so you don't have to go the extra step to message or text them later.</p>
<p>For Android, this bit of "magic" will happen every time you take a new photo, so your brunch buddies could receive the photos moments after you take it. For iPhone users, it will scan through your camera roll "periodically". (We've asked Facebook for clarification on what periodically means.)</p>
<p>Facebook isn't doing this without your permission, but you may not have realized you've given them permission to begin with. To use Photo Magic, you have to allow Messenger to have access to your camera roll to begin with before it sends you any notifications. If you've ever sent your friends a photo via Messenger, you've likely already opted in.&nbsp;</p>
<p>If it still sounds a little creepy to have Facebook looking through all your photos, especially as you take them, you are basically left with two options: You can turn off the send-to-your-friend notifications, and you can turn off <a href="https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline&amp;section=suggestions&amp;view">Facebook's facial recognition feature</a>.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Facebook&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-moments-app-2015-6">standalone Moments app</a> did something similar by pulling photos from your camera roll and then sending them in batch, using the same facial recognition technology.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Facebook's Messenger leader, David Marcus, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Davemarcus/posts/10156318681930195?pnref=story">confirmed in a post</a>&nbsp;that the fast-sharing feature is currently testing in Australia before rolling out to the U.S. soon.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"Today, we're starting to test an optional new feature to make sharing photos in Messenger even easier and more fun. People send more than 9.5 billion photos through Messenger every month, but sending photos of friends, and particularly groups of friends, is still too complicated. With Photo Magic, Messenger recognizes your friends in the photos you take and enables you to share your pictures with the friends in them in just two taps," said a Facebook spokesperson in an email.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">However, Facebook&rsquo;s Photo Magic (and Moments) may not reach worldwide use any time soon. Facebook&rsquo;s facial recognition tech is not used in Europe, following pressure from regulators over privacy concerns.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-facebook-page-2015-11" >Obama launched his Facebook page with a video of him wandering around his ‘backyard'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-messenger-testing-facial-recognition-technology-2015-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cant-post-tsu-facebook-instagram-social-media-competitor-2015-11">Facebook and Instagram won’t let you mention or post links from this competitor</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/usher-music-video-uses-facial-recognition-2015-10Usher's new music video uses facial recognition technology to make sure you're paying attention to its messagehttp://www.businessinsider.com/usher-music-video-uses-facial-recognition-2015-10
Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:13:53 -0400Cadie Thompson
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Usher has released a gripping interactive video for his new song &ldquo;Chains&rdquo; that requires your utmost attention. </span></p>
<p>The video, which can be viewed on the streaming platform Tidal, uses facial recognition technology so that the video only plays when you are looking at the screen.</p>
<p>While the song plays, the faces of men and women who have been victims of social injustice begin to appear. A short description of each person&rsquo;s story appears as their image begins to fade. The first victim shown is Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old boy who was shot and killed&nbsp;in 2012.</p>
<p>The video, which is entitled &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Look Away,&rdquo; quite literally requires viewers to face the music when it comes to racial injustice in the US.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/562a4b6ddd0895514b8b46ba-831-623/screen shot 2015-10-23 at 10.55.42 am.png" alt="Trayvon Martin Usher" data-mce-source="Tidal.com" /></p>
<p>If you look away from the screen, the song stops playing and the message &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Look Away&rdquo; appears. It begins playing again when the viewer is facing the screen.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The powerful video was created in collaboration with the digital agency AKQA.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/562a4b6ddd0895514b8b46bb-951-713/screen shot 2015-10-23 at 9.58.25 am.png" alt="Chains Tidal" data-mce-source="Tidal" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to a <a href="http://www.adweek.com/agencyspy/akqa-and-usher-insist-that-you-stare-into-the-eyes-of-the-victims-of-violence/95971">report by AdWeek's Agency Spy</a>, AKQA said that it is <span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;the first music video that uses facial recognition technology to ensure viewers are watching and paying attention.&rdquo;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">You can <a href="http://chains.tidal.com/">view the video here</a>, just make sure you are using the Chrome or Firefox browser. You don't need to be a Tidal subscriber to watch.</span></span></p>
<p>The site will prompt you to activate your webcam so that it can sense when your face is watching the screen. Enable the feature and don't look away.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/usher-music-video-uses-facial-recognition-2015-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tiny-robots-build-fast-walls-furniture-2015-10">This army of tiny robots could transform rooms within minutes</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/disney-created-facial-recognition-software-that-captures-expressions-in-real-time-2015-10Disney created a new technology to make its animated characters even more life-likehttp://www.businessinsider.com/disney-created-facial-recognition-software-that-captures-expressions-in-real-time-2015-10
Wed, 21 Oct 2015 13:30:00 -0400Danielle Muoio
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/562255a8dd0895ef1c8b46e1-824-355/screen%20shot%202015-10-16%20at%202.23.42%20pm.png" alt="Disney facial recognition software" data-mce-source="YouTube/ DisneyResearchHub"></p><p>Disney has created facial recognition software that can capture a person's expressions and convert them into an animation in real-time.</p>
<p>When we smile or scrunch our face, our face becomes lined with little wrinkles that showcase the emotion we are trying to express. Although animation has gotten increasingly more sophisticated over the years, it is still difficult to include those little facial changes that express an emotion in an animated character, <a href="http://www.disneyresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Real-Time-High-Fidelity-Facial-Performance-Capture-Paper1.pdf" target="_blank">Disney writes</a> <span>in their research paper about their new software</span>.</p>
<p>Disney adds that because audiences are trained to look at faces and identify subtle changes in expression, the inability to fully include facial cues in animation is problematic.</p>
<p>So Disney created software that can read a person's changing facial expressions using a camera and then convert them into an animated mask in real time.</p>
<p>Technology does already exist that captures facial changes in real-time, but they are unable to relay every detail that comes with a change in facial expression. Previous software also had to be tailored to work specifically with one person, whereas this software can be used by anyone at anytime.</p>
<p>"While these models simplify the capture problem and facilitate performance retargeting to other characters, they fail to capture the unique medium and fine scale facial details of the individual, such as wrinkles on the forehead or the so-called crows feet around the eyes," Disney writes.</p>
<p><div>
<iframe src="//giphy.com/embed/3o85xmIJ9kwsYrQvAY" width="800" height="448" frameborder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowfullscreen></iframe><p><a href="http://giphy.com/gifs/disney-facial-recognition-3o85xmIJ9kwsYrQvAY"></a></p>
</div></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Disney is the first to create technology capable of capturing facial changes in real-time at "high fidelity," meaning at a level that shows those crows feet or wrinkles. To use it, a person sits in front of a camera and makes their desired facial expressions. From there, the software converts those expressions into a "wrinkle map," which is then used to create the high-fidelity animated face.</p>
<p>Whereas other facial converters require multiple cameras, Disney's software only requires one camera. The software can also convert head-on face shots to side shots.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/562255a8dd0895ef1c8b46e2-828-409/screen%20shot%202015-10-16%20at%202.22.49%20pm.png" alt="Disney facial recognition" data-mce-source="DisneyResearchHub" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMa2oT1wMIs"></p>
<p>"By offering more realistic facial capture in real-time, our technique allows advances in various application domains including... more realistic online facial retargeting to virtual characters," Disney writes.</p>
<p>So be prepared for a more wrinkly Snow White.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/disney-created-facial-recognition-software-that-captures-expressions-in-real-time-2015-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/facial-recognition-software-that-captures-expressions-in-real-time-2015-10Disney created a new technology to make its animated characters even more life-likehttp://www.businessinsider.com/facial-recognition-software-that-captures-expressions-in-real-time-2015-10
Sat, 17 Oct 2015 16:16:06 -0400Danielle Muoio
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/562255a8dd0895ef1c8b46e1-824-355/screen%20shot%202015-10-16%20at%202.23.42%20pm.png" alt="Disney facial recognition software" data-mce-source="YouTube/ DisneyResearchHub"></p><p>Disney has created facial recognition software that can capture a person's expressions and convert them into an animation in real-time.</p>
<p>When we smile or scrunch our face, our face becomes lined with little wrinkles that showcase the emotion we are trying to express. Although animation has gotten increasingly more sophisticated over the years, it is still difficult to include those little facial changes that express an emotion in an animated character, <a href="http://www.disneyresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Real-Time-High-Fidelity-Facial-Performance-Capture-Paper1.pdf" target="_blank">Disney writes</a> <span>in their research paper about their new software</span>.</p>
<p>Disney adds that because audiences are trained to look at faces and identify subtle changes in expression, the inability to fully include facial cues in animation is problematic.</p>
<p>So Disney created software that can read a person's changing facial expressions using a camera and then convert them into an animated mask in real time.</p>
<p>Technology does already exist that captures facial changes in real-time, but they are unable to relay every detail that comes with a change in facial expression. Previous software also had to be tailored to work specifically with one person, whereas this software can be used by anyone at anytime.</p>
<p>"While these models simplify the capture problem and facilitate performance retargeting to other characters, they fail to capture the unique medium and fine scale facial details of the individual, such as wrinkles on the forehead or the so-called crows feet around the eyes," Disney writes.</p>
<p><div>
<iframe src="//giphy.com/embed/3o85xmIJ9kwsYrQvAY" width="800" height="448" frameborder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowfullscreen></iframe><p><a href="http://giphy.com/gifs/disney-facial-recognition-3o85xmIJ9kwsYrQvAY"></a></p>
</div></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Disney is the first to create technology capable of capturing facial changes in real-time at "high fidelity," meaning at a level that shows those crows feet or wrinkles. To use it, a person sits in front of a camera and makes their desired facial expressions. From there, the software converts those expressions into a "wrinkle map," which is then used to create the high-fidelity animated face.</p>
<p>Whereas other facial converters require multiple cameras, Disney's software only requires one camera. The software can also convert head-on face shots to side shots.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/562255a8dd0895ef1c8b46e2-828-409/screen%20shot%202015-10-16%20at%202.22.49%20pm.png" alt="Disney facial recognition" data-mce-source="DisneyResearchHub" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMa2oT1wMIs"></p>
<p>"By offering more realistic facial capture in real-time, our technique allows advances in various application domains including... more realistic online facial retargeting to virtual characters," Disney writes.</p>
<p>So be prepared for a more wrinkly Snow White.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facial-recognition-software-that-captures-expressions-in-real-time-2015-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-facebook-knows-what-you-look-like-2015-7Here's how Facebook knows what you look like (FB)http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-facebook-knows-what-you-look-like-2015-7
Thu, 09 Jul 2015 11:56:40 -0400John Patrick Pullen
<p class="article-excerpt"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/559e970eecad041d5567945a-1100-778/gettyimages-144527266.jpg" border="0" alt="Facebook">That woman from that laundry detergent commercial, you’ve seen her before in the yogurt ad. And the clerk at the convenience store you hit up this morning, that’s right — he was the guy hitting on you at the bar last week.</span></p>
<p>Making split-second connections like these is something your brain does well. In fact, according to 2008&nbsp;<a href="http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~gary/pubs/Hsiao-Cottrell-Psych-Science-2008.pdf">research</a>&nbsp;out of the University of California San Diego, it only takes two quick fixations before we recognize the person we’re gazing at.</p>
<p>But when it comes to facial recognition, computers have to put in a lot more work to get the answer right. “Recognizing people’s faces is really easy for people to do just instinctively, but it’s actually really hard for a computer,” says Rob Sherman, Facebook’s deputy chief privacy officer. Facebook uses facial recognition technology to drive its “Tag Suggestions” feature, which helps the website ID you when a picture of you gets uploaded to the social network. And while the feature may seem to work at the blink of an eye, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes.</p>
<p>First, Facebook’s computers analyze your profile photo and any other picture in which you’ve been manually tagged to find similarities between the images. In general, they’re looking at the dimensions of your face, including its shape, the distance between your eyes, and how far away your facial features are from one another. The site may also scan for the color of your hair.</p>
<p>“Essentially what we’re looking for is the unique characteristics of this particular person,” says Sherman.</p>
<p>Next, once you upload a photo to Facebook, the system figures out if there’s a face in the photo. If there are no faces, then it doesn’t make sense for Facebook to run facial recognition technology. But it’s also important to note that Tag Suggestions doesn’t get deployed for just any image of people uploaded to the social network. Instead, it’s only offered when the uploader and the photo’s subject(s) are already friends — doppelgängers on the other side of the world remain a mystery.</p>
<p>If faces are detected in your picture, Tag Suggestions whirs to life, analyzing the new image and looking specifically for your distinct characteristics, or those of your friends. “The goal is to figure out what are the things that differentiate one person’s face from another person’s face,” says Sherman. And if the feature does detect you or your friends, Facebook highlights the face and suggests to tag the image appropriately.</p>
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<p>According to Sherman, Facebook’s technology was designed to streamline the photo tagging experience. The idea is that if you’re already friends with someone on Facebook, then you know what they look like (and they know what you look like, too). Tag Suggestions and facial recognition just makes it quicker and easier to tag them in a picture.</p>
<div class="content-ad" id="content-ad-3951006"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">But not everyone sees this technology as a matter of convenience — some see it as an invasion of privacy. For instance, in Europe, concerns over facial recognition technology has&nbsp;</span><a href="http://time.com/3928901/facebook-photo-app-europe/">delayed the rollout</a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;of Moments, Facebook’s new photo-sharing app. Moments uses the same facial recognition technology that powers Tag Suggestions, but it’s designed to help Facebook users share photos with each other. For instance, say you’re on vacation with your friends and you all take photos with your smartphones. Moments uses facial recognition to automatically share the group members’ photos with one another. That eliminates the hassle of emailing or texting images to one another after an event is over.</span></div>
<p>If all this talk of facial scanning and recognition has you hiding from camera lenses, there’s an easier way to opt out. “If people don’t want it, obviously we want to make it easy for them to turn it off,” says Sherman. To disable Tag Suggestions on your account, log into the social network and go to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=timeline">Timeline and Tagging section of your settings</a>, where you’ll see the last question: “Who sees Tag Suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded?” Click on the “Edit” link to the right, and change the dropdown menu from “Friends” to “No One.” Once you do that, not only will the feature be disabled, but the social network will remove your record from Facebook’s database of similarities. This will also prevent your profile from being suggested to friends when they upload images to the site.</p>
<p>But still, Sherman says, Facebook’s records only work on its website. “Even though we are deleting it, it’s not really useful in any other system, and that’s one of the important points,” he says in the feature’s defense. And besides, being tagged in an image isn’t necessarily a bad thing.</p>
<p>“Tagging is a really important way to communicate on Facebook and interact with one another,” says Sherman. When you’re tagged in photos, you know those photos exist, and you can be alerted to conversations happening about them. Otherwise, people could be talking about you behind your back — or, more accurately, behind your face.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-introduces-new-news-feed-settings-2015-7" >Facebook has a clever new way to make sure you never miss important stuff in your news feed</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-facebook-knows-what-you-look-like-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/turn-off-facebook-video-autoplay-newsfeed-2015-6">How to disable all the auto-play videos clogging your Facebook feed</a></p>